Scott Weiland, headed to Mesa, reflects on Velvet Revolver

by Ed Masley - Jul. 17, 2012 01:21 PMThe Republic | azcentral.com

Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver is headed to Mesa for a show on Sunday, July 22, at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. He recently reflected on his life in both those bands and rock and roll in general in “Not Dead & Not for Sale: A Memoir,” published by Scribner, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

In this excerpt, Weiland talks about how he reluctantly came to join Velvet Revolver.

Slipping and sliding, peeping and hiding.

Basically, the story was that Mary had cleaned up and I hadn’t. I was strung out and (expletive) up. Mary wanted out of the marriage — the agony of our divorce went on for years — but Mary still took an interest in my career. Always has. Always will. Ka-ching. Ka-ching.

She said she’d been hanging with Susan McKagan, a former swimsuit supermodel and wife of Duff, the bass player with Guns N’ Roses when the group was at its height. Susan told Mary that three guys from GNR — Duff on bass, Matt Sorum on drums, and Slash on guitar — had formed a band.

Initially, Izzy Stradlin was in, but soon opted out. David Kushner from Wasted Youth took his place.

“Sounds like a lot of egos,” I said. “Sounds like a lot of trouble.”

“They put some songs on a CD that they want you to hear,” Mary said. “They think you’ll like what they’re doing.”

I didn’t. It sounded like Bad Company–styled classic rock. And I never liked Bad Company. But being a nice guy, I said, “There’s some stuff that’s okay, but just send me another disc when you have a few new songs.”

A week or so later, another CD arrived with songs custom-designed for me. The tunes had STP written all over them.

Duff called and said, “Hey, man, just drop by the studio.” I knew Duff from the gym, and I said I’d try. I still wasn’t sure whether I wanted to hook up with these guys.

My managers, pushing me to join this band, said, “They’re going to cover Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ for a new movie called The Italian Job. And then Ang Lee wants songs for his remake of The Hulk. This is going to be a hot band. Just give it a chance.”

I reluctantly agreed. The idea was just to jam. Couldn’t hurt to see if there was any chemistry. Meanwhile, I was still hurting chemically. I was still shooting dope. That’s the reason I showed up many hours late.

When I arrived, I was shocked. The guys had set up a major industry event. All sorts of music execs were there. It was being billed as an announcement of “Guns N’ Roses with Scott Weiland” and made to look like a done deal, not just a casual jam. I was confused, and, because of my drug habit, I was also a wreck. But what the (expletive), I was there and might as well sing.

We sang two songs — “Set Me Free” for The Hulk and the cover of “Money.” I was blown away by the powerful chemistry between us. So was everyone else. These guys attacked rock and roll like a street gang. I liked their ferocity and balls-out commitment. Besides, looking over and seeing Slash playing beside me — Slash, who’d been an idol of mine back in the eighties — was a thrill. I knew Dave Kushner from the Electric Love Hogs, an underground rock band. Back in the day, STP had aspired to be on the Love Hogs level. I remember seeing them at English Acid, a hip spot in West Hollywood. I also knew Matt Sorum from rehab; he and I had been in together.

Fact is, I had a lot in common with these guys. We’d been down the dark alleys, gotten mugged, stumbled, fell, and got back up. When I hooked up with them, they were looking good. Through martial arts, Duff had put together eight years of sobriety. Matt had six years. And Dave had over a dozen years. When they saw my strung-out condition, they vowed to do everything in their power to help.